


That One Time in the Black Market

by HotaruGFC (JaclynGFC)



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, Masturbation, Needy Charlotte, Original Character(s), Sex Toys, Shopping, explicit pictures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:35:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaclynGFC/pseuds/HotaruGFC
Summary: Charlotte has had a difficult time as of late. Her friend, Mira, takes her to meet someone who could help. Eventually, she runs into the source of her difficulty.
Relationships: Charlotte Roselei & OFC, Charlotte Roselei/Yami Sukehiro
Comments: 11
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

"I promise you, Charlotte. You won't regret it." 

The tall captain of the Blue Rose Knights looked at her friend and vice-captain with skepticism. While she had implicit trust in her friend at all times, Charlotte was uncertain about the quest the short, spunky summoner had set them on. She questioned whether or not the quest needed to happen at all.

"I really don't know about this, Mira." Charlotte hated the edge of fear she heard in her voice as they approached the hidden portal. "Isn't this a place of ruffians and thieves? A place which shouldn't be frequented by upstanding citizens as ourselves?"

Mira grinned at her. Her eyes met Charlotte's with an unspoken challenge. Mira backed up into the obscured portal, her body disappearing bit by bit into the illusory wall before them. 

"What? Are you scared?" The mischievous dark eyes winked before they vanished behind stone and mortar. Charlotte could hear her laughing on the other side of the wall. Sighing, Charlotte took a step through into a world she had rarely seen.

On the outside, the alleyway did not look much different from the market stalls which lined the square. Colored awnings protruded from the walls over tables packed with goods. Merchants called out to the few shoppers passing by to entice them to their wares. But the people, most of them anyway, hurried past the tents and tables, heads down and focused on their goal. Most people came to this street of shops for a purpose. Some disappeared through doorways between the stalls, while others walked straight for the gambling den at the end of the street. Still, others took a turn down a connecting alleyway marked with bright red lanterns. 

Mira ignored the voices calling out to her from the stalls and made her way to one unassuming shop nestled next to a building. Charlotte, despite her longer stride, had to hurry to keep up with her. The voices tempted her with enticing bits of information about their wares. She shook off her curiosity of what they offered more than once in her effort to follow her friend. Mira had said she was on a mission – a mission to find something for Charlotte. When pressed for information, all Charlotte could get out of Mira was a smile and the reassurance of fewer lonely nights should she succeed. Charlotte had wrinkled her forehead in skepticism but had followed her friend anyway.

And now, she followed her friend up to the small shop – a stall wrapped in rich purple from its table cloth to the awning shielding the merchant beneath it from the blazing sun above.

"Mira, I'm not sure..."

"Trust me, Charlotte, after what you told me this morning, you need this," she tossed over her shoulder before turning back to the proprietor of the stall to talk in hushed whispers. 

The day had started like any other, or so Charlotte had thought. She got up, had breakfast and a bath, and got to work. But her vice-captain looked at her funnily as they shared tea in the garden while discussing the affairs of the brigade. 

"Are you alright, Charlotte?" Mira leaned over the table to look into the pale eyes of the brigade captain.

Charlotte sat back, confused.

"Yeah. I'm fine." 

"You seem a little... off-kilter. Like something's bothering you." Mira had made such observations before, and she was usually so accurate it made Charlotte question if her actual magical ability was more akin to mind magic. 

"I'm fine," Charlotte stressed again, but even to her ears, her voice sounded more strained than normal. She repeated the sentiment once more, silently, as if to convince herself of it, but the more Mira pushed, the more Charlotte realized she wasn't as fine as she insisted. 

Eventually, the words Charlotte had been dreading came out of Mira's mouth. 

"When's the last time you had sex?" 

Charlotte rolled her eyes. She and Mira had been friends for a long time, ever since they had joined the brigade together, but Charlotte had never been as open about her feelings, or her more private goings-on, as the shorter woman. Compared to Mira, Charlotte might as well have taken the same vow of chastity as administered in the sisterhood. Not to say Charlotte was perfectly chaste, but Mira was on an entirely different level of promiscuity. 

And everything always ended up being about sex with her in the end. 

"I don't know." Charlotte lied. She knew the exact date of the last time. A couple of days before she had been promoted to captain, she had messed around with one of the other women about their age. Even then, however, her mind and heart had been elsewhere. She had never been fully committed to pleasure when she was with another of the brigade members. And now, as Captain, she was unwilling to risk even the hint of abuse of power.

Mira watched her and Charlotte felt her cheeks grow warm.

"Have you even bothered to pleasure yourself?"

Charlotte's cheeks grew scarlet at the turn of conversation. She knew Mira had no qualms about discussing such matters, but Charlotte felt awkward and uncomfortable.

"I take that as a 'no'," Mira sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You know it's unhealthy, right?"

"I'm fine." Charlotte insisted. Her hands squeezed into fists, and her leg bounced up and down beneath the table. Mira continued to look at her.

"No, you're not. I mean, you were, but now you're not. What happened?"

Charlotte opened her mouth to argue or explain, but how could she? How could she come out and say the reason she had been so tightly wound lately was because of him?   
The thought echoed in her head and she was forced to confront the issue she had been ignoring.

She had run into him the other day. And every time she saw him, things fell apart. She fell apart. 

But she couldn't tell Mira. She hadn't told anyone yet. 

"It's nothing, Mira. Just a little needier than I usually am, I guess."

"Uh-huh."

Mira didn't buy it, Charlotte could tell from her eyes and how they narrowed slightly. 

"I mean, it's not like I can partake of my previous forms of... satisfaction." Charlotte chose her words carefully. 

"And why not? It's not like there is any lack of women who would mind."

Charlotte sighed. She and Mira had gone round and round with the same argument since she became captain. 

"You know, I'm always happy to help." Mira leaned forward and placed a hand over Charlotte's. Charlotte grasped her teacup and brought it to her lips, avoiding the touch. Mira had always been well-meaning, but she and Charlotte were friends first and foremost. While Mira might be willing to help Charlotte out, the vice-captain had her own type and Charlotte was not at all it. Mira had a distinct preference for men which most of the Blue Rose Knights did not seem to share. But when she was honest with herself, Charlotte also had a specific type and only allowed herself to deviate from that type when she was no longer able to stand the longing. And her type too was something most of the other members of her squad did not share, nor would they understand.

Which was awful, given she had never once even told him she liked him. And yet, she wanted him in ways she had never wanted anyone else. 

She had tried other men, reluctantly, and had found them lacking. And women, while able to bring her the physical release she needed, had not filled her desire. 

"I know you are, but you know why I can't." 

"You should really find a lover you consider your equal then because you need it. And more importantly, Charlotte, everyone deserves to be loved."

Charlotte sighed again. Do they though? Does she? Despite her weakness? His words echoed through her mind again. Someone to lean on. He had been that for her before. She wondered if he could be her someone to lean on again.

"But in the meantime, I know this... person. They make magic items of all sorts..."

Charlotte had no idea when she agreed to go with Mira they would end up in the black market. 

And now, as they stood before the stall, Mira talking to the merchant, Charlotte felt a shiver go down her spine. She had the sense of being watched, but she and Mira had taken precautions and traveled in disguise. No squad regalia, none of her usual appearance. She even allowed Mira to use a glamour spell on her to further obscure her features. 

No one should recognize her.

No one should know she was there. 

Just paranoia.

She sighed as she looked around, startling herself with the dark color of her hair hanging around her face in an unfamiliar style and color. The merchant waved them down an alley which ran next to the stall and Mira knocked on a door in the side of the building. 

The door creaked open and Charlotte peered into the dim room beyond. Mira strode confidently into the room while Charlotte hesitated until her hand was grasped and she was pulled forward. The door closed shut behind them and the room seemed to plunge into total darkness until Charlotte's eyes adjusted to the faint light coming from the corner.

"Sorry about the darkness," a woman's voice cut through the silence. "The spirits don't like to come out when it's too bright." The light in the corner flickered and then faded, removing the only source of light. The sound of a match being struck resounded in the darkened room as the flame blinded the eyes of its occupants. The woman in the corner lit a lamp and the room was filled with a soft glow. She had a kindly smile that lit her face as much as the lamp did as she approached Charlotte and Mira. 

"Oh, hi. I didn't expect to see you again so soon." She greeted Mira, her small smile broadening into a grin. "How is it working out for you? Good, I hope?"

"Yes, it is, very well, thank you." Mira matched her grin as Charlotte looked in confusion at the two women. "But I'm not here for myself this time."

The woman, whom Charlotte assumed was the proprietor of the shop and the artificer of goods gave Charlotte a long look. 

"I see." 

Charlotte had never felt so much like a piece under dissection in her life. She was used to the overly appreciative looks men gave her. Even some of the women in the squad gave her similar looks before correcting themselves. But the way this woman looked at her... Charlotte had never felt anything quite like it. She squirmed beneath the scrutiny, at least on the inside. She tried to keep a stoic appearance as she met the woman's eyes. They were a deep violet, the likes of which Charlotte had never seen.

"Come, have a cup of tea with me." She smiled at Charlotte. "Mira, I will take care of this, but,"

"I know, I know, it will cost me." Mira waved her hands in mock resignation before she scurried out the door. Charlotte turned to the sound of the door closing before looking once more at the woman with whom she had been left. Her smile was friendly enough, but Charlotte's heart raced with suspicion.

"Please come in. Let's talk about what's troubling you, or rather, what's troubling your friend about you." She walked across the room and started water boiling for tea.

"Nothing is troubling me." Charlotte protested as she followed and took an offered seat. "And I don't know you, so even if something was bothering me, as you suggest, why would I tell you?"

The orange-haired woman brushed a long strand of hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear. She walked over to the small table Charlotte had seated herself and placed on its top a tray with a teapot and two cups. 

"No, I guess you would not want to discuss these things with a stranger." She placed two scoops of loose tea into the pot. "I'm Code, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Charlotte of the Blue Rose Knights."

"Code doesn't sound like a real name." Charlotte looked at her skeptically. The kettle whistled and Code smiled before she turned to retrieve the hot water. 

"You're quite right. Code isn't my full name, but I have my reasons for not using it." She poured the hot water over the tea. "They are the same reasons I cannot use my talents more in the open as I would like. My apologies if it makes you uncomfortable."

Charlotte looked at her as she poured the tea into the empty cups.

"Well, Mira trusts you..."

"Mira is a good friend. I owe her a great debt. In payment of that debt, I swear on my grimoire what we say here will never leave these walls." The look in Code's face was serious, stern, and Charlotte knew an oath placed on one's grimoire was as strong an oath as one could make. 

Charlotte nodded and reached for the cup of tea.

"Mira thinks I'm," Charlotte sighed. "Needy." She took a sip of the tea. The liquid was hot, almost burning, but it had a flavor that made her think of her garden back home.

"Needy how? You're obviously a very powerful mage, with a good strong head on your shoulders and a focused plan for your future. From where I sit, you seem to have it all."

"Needy in a physical way." Charlotte blushed. "In a sexual way. Before I became Captain, it was easier to relieve myself, I guess. To find some sort of companionship. But now... I hate the idea that I might take advantage of one of my subordinates."

"Ah, so you're having love problems." Code cracked a smile which made Charlotte roll her eyes. 

"Mira said it the same way... This is why I don't ever talk about things like this."

"Oh, no, no. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was teasing you or anything. It's just a familiar situation. Well, sort of. I'm also having certain love problems."

"I see."

The two women sipped their tea in silence for a moment. 

"Is it just the physical act, or lack thereof, that's bothering you?" Code asked after a moment. "Because I can help with that. I have these devices that are spectacular substitutes."

"I... well, I guess that's part of it. I don't want to ask anyone I know, because, well..."

"We women are still looked down on when we achieve power in so many ways. We have to work twice as hard for half as much sometimes. And any appearance of impropriety can be used against us. No, I get it."

"I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. And I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable, or used, or like someone is getting preferential treatment because of a relationship with me."

"You said that was part of it."

Charlotte's grip on her teacup tightened. The warmth of the cup burned her hands slightly and the steam clouded her vision. 

"I can't be with any of them, that's true, bu. I don't want to be with any of them either."

Code looked at her from across the table.

"Is there someone you do want to be with?"

Charlotte blushed and looked at the teapot on the table, refusing to meet the other woman's eyes.

"It doesn't matter. I can't be with him either. I can't even tell him."

Charlotte sipped her tea.

"It seems our situation is more alike than I thought. I can't be with my lover either. Though, unlike you, he knows how I feel. We were supposed to get married when we got here, but things... they didn't work out as we planned. We got separated and now I can't find him. I set up shop here, hoping he might find me. But also, to help me survive until we find each other again."

"I'm sorry. It must be difficult."

"Not as difficult as living without him knowing how much I care for him."

"I don't even know what to say. How would I even go about telling him?" Charlotte took another sip of tea. "And I can't let everyone down."

"So he's not someone people would approve of then? Interesting." Code smiled over the cup before taking a sip of her own. 

"I mean, I have a reputation to uphold, and I need to be a good role model for my knights." Charlotte set the cup down, echoing the sentiment she had been telling herself for years. "Besides, he's boorish, crude, and doesn't know when to quit."

Code laughed.

"Sounds familiar. Sounds like most men, actually. Mine is all those things, to an extent. But he has a penchant for losing his clothes. I mean, don't get me wrong, when we're alone, I have absolutely no problem with it, but it always seems to happen at the most public and inopportune times. And it's not like he takes them off intentionally, or anything. They sort of just... disappear."

Charlotte chuckled.

"Yes, well, mine – oh that sounds weird," she said, her heart racing at the thought. "The guy I like always dresses strangely. Even when he's not in some weird costume, he's always incredibly underdressed." 

Charlotte took another sip of her tea.

"Not that I'm complaining, I mean..." Her cheeks turned red at the admission.

Code laughed. 

"Well, I see what the problem is. I mean, I had guessed when Mira had brought you in, but this confirms it. You are in dire need of some physical release. And I have just the thing to help out with that." She stood up and walked across the small room to a chest in the corner. 

"Come here." She waved Charlotte over as she lifted the lid on the chest. Curiosity got the better of Charlotte as she heeded the summons. 

The chest contained an array of what looked like wands, only far thicker and less delicate than the ones she had seen in the stall. 

"The other part, the connection you seek, is something only you can find for yourself, I'm afraid."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yami has a bad day at the casino.

Yami had entered the casino feeling as if luck was on his side. He left it with his purse empty. He knew the casino was cheating. The dealer's ki was filled with deceit. But he didn't have the evidence to prove it to anyone who mattered. Besides, no one much cared about what happened in the seedy parts of town. Cheats and cutthroats were the order of the day. He guarded what little he still possessed as he wove through the alleyways which made up the black market. He glanced at the stalls, knowing he could afford nothing they sold at the moment. 

He must have had the look of a sucker on his face as he passed one stall. The merchant called out to him.

"Hey, Big Guy! You like the pretty ladies? I've got the pretty ladies."

Yami wasn't sure if it was the waggle of his eyebrows or the tone in his voice that made him stop and look at the seller. Regardless, something about him was suspicious in just the right way to grab Yami's attention. He found himself drifting over to the stall to look at the wares. Images on paper glittered with magic. The images looked like paintings, only more realistic and they shimmered with motion. The figures, nearly all scantily clad young women, moved on a loop. Alluring gazes stared out of some of the images, but others seemed more candid as if the subjects were unaware their likenesses were being captured.

"Yes, yes, lots of pretty ladies."

The table at the front of the stall was covered with images. Women of all types – busty and flat, large and skinny, young and older – stared back at him from most of the paper squares. But most of them did nothing for him. He was about to turn away when one image caught his eye. 

In the collection of pictures that had been taken at a bath or spring, one woman looking away from him sparked his imagination. All he could see was her long alabaster back as she waded in the water. Her blond hair was piled on top of her head. Her arms were raised and her fingers disappeared into her hair where she tried to secure its length. The curve of her breasts was just visible from her sides. Her waist was narrow, but her hips, which disappeared into the water, were wide and shapely. 

He had the feeling he knew her, and he wished he could see her face.

He must have been staring as the seller started talking again. 

"She is very beautiful, no? I have others of her." He pulled out other images of a similar-looking blond woman, but at one glance, Yami knew something was wrong. The new images were obviously staged. In them, a woman was pleasuring herself, but she looked straight at him, beckoning with her eyes and lips. Yami looked from the image in the pool to the other images several times. Even though he could not see the original woman's face, he had the feeling they were not the same woman at all. 

He looked back at the image of the woman in the pool of water. The merchant grunted and put the other images away. Yami scanned the images surrounding the mystery woman, all of which appeared to have been set at the same spot. The collection was small, taking up only a corner of the table, but they were all candid shots of women enjoying a bath together. Some images had a small group of them playing and talking, unconcerned they were being observed.

Another of the women seemed familiar. He looked more closely at her face. 

He looked at another he could see more clearly and she too seemed familiar. 

He did not know exactly who they were, did not know their names, but he had the strangest sense he had met them all before.

And then he saw her in the background. 

The blond woman.

Her eyes were closed and her head was tilted back, relaxed. She had sunk into the water where only her shoulders were visible. Her face was partially obscured by steam rising from the water. But he knew in his gut it was the same woman. 

He picked up the image for a closer look.

The vendor made a disapproving noise and tried to snatch the image away. Yami shot him a menacing glance, his aura oppressive, and the man backed away. 

Bringing the image closer to his face didn't help him see her any more clearly, but looking again at the images, he now knew why nearly every woman looked familiar.

They were all members of the Blue Rose Knights.

And the woman, the blond who had caught his eye in the first place was none other than Charlotte Roselei.

Yami looked at the images once more, seven or eight of them displayed on the table as the feeling of certainty grew. The images seemed so candid because they were; not one of them knew they were being watched, and he would wager what meager earnings he had left on it.

Yami glared at the man. 

"Where did you get these?"

The merchant backed away, wringing his hands together as he tried to explain.

"Well, you see, we have a strict confidentiality... Urk." The man fell silent as Yami gripped his throat from across the table. 

"Where. Did. You. Get. These." 

The man gasped for air and clawed at Yami's hand. He tried to explain, but his voice came out in a squeak. Yami dropped him, letting him collapse to the ground. The man wheezed. Yami looked at the images once more and picked up every one of them, stacking them up in a small pile. His gaze lingered on the image of Charlotte which had caught his eye in the first place.

"I really can't say my sources. I don't even know half of them, especially for the more... candid shots." The man's voice was hoarse and he spoke between coughs.

"Is this all of them? Do you have any more?" 

Yami felt a rage building within him as he thought about the images in his hand. He might not know the women of the Blue Rose Knights personally, and he was certain they would not like him much, but he was also certain they would like their lives on display even less. The staged images he could care less about. The women in them had made their choice to pose for them. But these illicitly procured images? These made him angry.

The man behind the counter shook his head.

"Really?" Yami allowed a controlled release of mana which could be felt by all in the near vicinity. The man scurried beneath the table, disappearing beneath the dingy, yellowed cloth which covered the table. When he stood up, he had a small box in his hands. He cleared the center of the table and placed the box on top. 

When he lifted the lid, Yami could see an entire stack of images from the bathhouse of the Blue Rose Knights. He searched quickly through the box and removed every picture he could find.

"I'm going to take these." He waved the stack of images at the vendor who started to quote him a price. Yami narrowed his eyes.

"You don't understand." Yami leaned towards the man, his voice lowering to a menacing whisper. "I'm going to take them and any other ones you have from this location. You are going to give them to me, or I'm going to tell the Blue Rose Knights about them, where I found them, and who exactly had them for sale." 

The man froze in fear as a dark grin spread over Yami's face.

"You think I'm scary? Just what till the Prickly Queen finds you." 

The man's ki dripped with fear as he swallowed hard. His eyes darted around like a rodent looking for an escape route. 

"Take them. We won't make any more of them. I swear it." 

Yami straightened, lifting the small box. He took off the lid and dumped the contents onto the table. He placed the images inside, followed by the top, and tucked the box beneath his arm.

"Be sure you don't." He turned from the stall, the lucky feeling which had fled from him as soon as he had entered the casino returning. The sound of the stall being packed away and the fear oozing from the merchant blinded him momentarily as he stepped into the alleyway.

And nearly ran into a woman. 

He stopped short, surprised by her presence where he had been certain no one had been before.

But what surprised him more was the pair of startling blue eyes looking up at him and the familiar ki.


	3. Chapter 3

Charlotte walked out of the building a little embarrassed, a little excited, and overall feeling better than she had felt in a long time. She had been able to open up to Code in a way she had never been able to before. Not even Mira, in all their years of friendship, had been able to glean the information from her the way Code had in a single meeting. Charlotte wondered if she would ever see the artificer again.

She peaked into the bag she held at the device she had purchased. The operation of it seemed simple enough, but Charlotte's cheeks flushed in embarrassment when she looked at it. She had never been so bold as to put her needs so blatantly on display as she had with Code. And now the bag she carried made her feel as if she were announcing them to the world at large.

Charlotte clutched the bag to her chest to both protect her investment and to conceal it from view. 

Her mind was so focused on the new item in her possession she did not notice the other people in the street until she nearly collided with one. She looked up in annoyance and surprise into a pair of eyes that looked like dry soil. Her eyes grew wide in shock and she gasped, feeling color rising to her cheeks. 

The person she had nearly run into was him. Yami Sukehiro.

Charlotte's heart stopped and her voice died in her throat. 

The disguise... She prayed it would obscure her enough so he would not recognize her.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." She croaked out. 

His eyes narrowed and he tilted his head. His grip on a box beneath his arm tightened.

Charlotte's breathing came more quickly; she felt she was hyperventilating.

Where the hell was Mira?

***

The woman's ki felt familiar, similar to Charlotte's ki. And while the blue eyes were similar, the woman's face and hair were not. Yami looked her over quickly, trying to focus his senses more keenly on her presence. But no matter what he did, he could not pin down the woman's identity.

She apologized in a hoarse, croaking voice that sounded somewhat like Charlotte's, but not really. Yami looked over her once more before he sighed and stepped out of her way. He watched as she hurried down the alley in a gait unbecoming of a magic knight, much less the proud captain of the Blue Rose Knights. He lit a cigarette. The images he had confiscated must have done a larger number on him than he thought if he was seeing Charlotte in a common street wench. 

He shifted the box beneath his arm. 

"Must have her on the brain," he muttered around the edges of the cigarette.

"Hey, Boss!" A young member of his squad, a man barely on the cusp of adulthood, called out to him from the direction of the casino. "You really should have stayed. Right after you left it was like the odds shifted and the entire place started winning." The young man held up a fat purse filled with money. He wore a grin as big as the bag of coins.

"Yeah, well, I just wasn't feeling it today, I guess." Yami kept watching the path the woman had taken. Something about her still did not sit right with him. 

"Say, Boss, what you got there?" The young man pointed at the box. Yami tightened his grip on it.

"Just something I picked up. Come on. Let's go."

***

The box of images sat on a small dresser in Yami's bedroom. For the last several days, it seemed to mock him as it sat unopened, unexplored. He had to do something about it.   
Destroy it? Burning it would be the easiest thing. And then he would be done with it. No more whispers in his mind to open it, to look.

But then, why shouldn't he look? The images were there. Wouldn't be any worse than taking a peek if he had been in the bath himself. And he had to admit to himself, he would take a peek if given the chance. 

He grabbed his paper and went to the toilet. As he sat and smoked, he tried focusing on the news of the day. But his mind always wandered back to that infernal box. 

Once back in his room, he tore the lid off of the container and spread the images out before him. Image after image of nude women danced before his eyes, doing their best to tempt him. He examined each one in turn, not in great detail, but long enough to appreciate them all. They were all beautiful, and they all had their charms.

But none of them excited him. None of them got his blood boiling with desire. As he looked through them all one by one, he placed them back into the box, disappointed, but also guilty. 

"Guess I should send these to Her Prickly Majesty." He muttered around his cigarette as he placed a stack of the images back into the box.

And then he saw her. The image--Charlotte's strong, straight back, her arms piling her hair atop her head--caught his eye once more. He inhaled deeply on his cigarette as thoughts of everything else fled his mind. Something about the image was alluring in a way the others were not. Yami couldn't quite put his finger on why.

Charlotte was beautiful in the image. She was beautiful regardless. He had heard her called the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. While he wasn't sure if that were the case, he definitely would rank her in the top ten. 

Still, she seemed so much more relaxed in the image, unguarded, calm. And the sense of peace she exuded only heightened her beauty.

His gaze lingered on the image. He placed it aside as he packaged up the rest of them. He placed the lid on the top of the box, securing the lid with a length of string wrapped around it. Satisfied with the job, Yami stepped out into the hall.

"Finral!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte takes a little time for herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the date of posting, the world has been absolute madness. Between resuming life after a holiday break and all of the insanity of what is going on in the world, I am probably going to be posting less frequently. That doesn't mean I'm not writing or working on things! I am. It's just there is a lot of other things on my plate as well. Thank you to everyone who is reading and commenting on my stories!

Charlotte walked into her room and collapsed on the bed. The recent battle had drained her and she wanted little else but to sleep for days. She had conserved her mana as best she could, using a little as possible over the last couple of days, but she still felt empty and exhausted. 

And as soon as she and the contingent of her brigade had returned to their headquarters, requests and demands for her attention confronted her. 

Charlotte groaned as she flopped onto her back. The bath had not soothed her as she hoped. Neither had the warm cup of tea and the stroll through the garden. 

"Maybe I should have gone with Mira." 

She sat up, preparing to seek out another cup of tea in hope of it soothing her soul when her eyes fell on a small cloth bag sitting on the dresser top. She had tucked the bag away after she and Mira had returned home from their excursion to the black market, never intending to use the item she had bought. Though she had been excited and confident about it after her conversation with Code, the trip back home stirred up her old misgivings. 

Surely she was not as desperate as Mira and Code had thought? Stressed, of course, but wanting? No. Especially not for something she had never really had a good experience with before.

But running into Yami shortly after she had discussed her feelings for him so openly... It had to be a sign. But what it pointed out, Charlotte could not guess. 

And so her fear had crept back. She had placed the bag on her dresser and had thrown herself into her work to forget.

Now, seeing it again, her conversation with Code rushed back to her. She had told the woman, the stranger everything she could about Yami without saying his name. She described him to a tee from his dark hair, which she imagined was softer than it looked, to the powerful arms she wished would squeeze her until she snapped in two. 

She picked up the bag and pulled out the device. The shape of it was unique among the objects Code had available, not so much a thick rod as it was a sharp crescent. She charged it with her mana, as Code had demonstrated and it began to jitter ever so slightly in her hand. 

As she lay down on her bed, she wondered if the object would do everything Code had claimed it would. A rush of pleasure, the feel of warm strong hands on her skin, made her gasp.

Charlotte wondered what had taken her so long, as her mind from the concerns of her daily life in the face of euphoric pleasure.

As the mana within the device dissipated, Charlotte felt elated, relaxed, and better than she had in a long time. Somehow, the device had brought to mind such a vivid imagining that Charlotte could have convinced herself he was real and with her. Only when she opened her eyes to an empty bed did she face the fact she was alone. 

She smiled a lazy, sleepy smile, curious about how similar a real experience with him would be. The thought made her blush and she hurried to put the device away, but this time, well within easy reach. She pushed the drawer next to her bed closed as a knock sounded on the door.

Charlotte pulled a robe around her as she hurried to the door. When she pulled it opened, a junior member of the brigade stood in the doorway holding a small box in her hands. 

"Excuse me, Captain, but this just arrived for you."

Charlotte's eyebrows knit together in curious concern as she lifted the box from the shorter woman's hands. While it was not exactly small, neither was it too large. The surface was nondescript, yet Charlotte had the strangest feeling she had seen it before.

"Thank you. Was there any information about who it is from?"

The young woman shook her head.

"Only that a spatial magic-user delivered it. I didn't see him, so I don't know more than that."

Charlotte nodded her head.

"Very well. Thank you."

The young woman saluted and then hurried down the hall, leaving Charlotte looking at the plain, oddly familiar box in her hands. Charlotte stepped back into her room and closed the door as untied the string holding the lid on. As the string fell to the floor, so too did a small card that had been slid between it and the box bottom. Charlotte bent over to retrieve the card. It was blank on one side but the other side revealed neat handwriting as she turned it over. 

"Do what you want with this," the card said, but there was no signature, nothing to indicate who had sent the box. Charlotte sat on her bed and lifted the lid, her brow furrowed in suspicion. She frowned as she saw what the box contained. She lifted out the images one by one, seeing several copies of a wide variety of different views, but all of them were taken in the same location. All of the images were of her squad enjoying the bathhouse. 

Charlotte's face turned red with anger and she stood from her bed and pushed the crumpled blanket out of the way--she would make the bed later. She dumped the contents of the box onto her bed and worked through sorting the images. Her mind raced, wondering how and when someone had obtained them, worried one of her knights had sold them out. 

"What kind of sick, perverted individual..." She muttered as she compared the images to each other. She noticed each image seemed to have been taken from the same vantage point, which meant there was likely a recording device hidden in the bath. She put the images back into the box and replaced the lid. She dressed quickly, forgoing her armor or even the bun she usually wore in her hair, and stalked like a woman possessed toward the bath. First, she would find the recording device, and then she would find out who put it there. Whoever had been so depraved as to take advantage of her squad would pay. If only she could find out who it was.

She stopped in her tracks as a memory caught up to her. She knew where she had seen the box before.


End file.
